Demolition for alleged military purposes

Demolition for alleged military purposes

Early in the second intifada, Israel adopted a policy known as “clearing,” implemented mainly in the Gaza Strip. This policy included the demolition of homes, the uprooting of orchards, and the destruction of agricultural fields with a view to creating a security zone around Israeli civilian and military localities: settlements, roads and permanent or temporary military bases. The policy has had devastating, long-term consequences, depriving thousands of Palestinians of their homes or their sole source of livelihood, even though they were not involved in attacks against either Israeli civilians or security forces.

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The UN report on the 2014 Gaza conflict rejects Israeli government and military officials’ view of what is permissible in combat in densely populated areas. The UN commission’s premise differs from that of these officials, seeing Gaza as the home of over 1.5 million civilians where combat took place, not as a battlefield on which civilians live. The report states that the immense harm to civilians during the fighting cannot be justified nor can IHL be interpreted so as to legalize it, even considering the modus operandi of Hamas and other armed groups. The commission also found that the responsibility for violating IHL rests with the senior political and military officials who drew up the policy and did not change it even when its lethal consequences became clear.

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According to the UN, Israel destroyed 3,500 homes in the Gaza Strip during Operation Cast Lead. Some of the displaced persons now live in tents, in harsh conditions. Participants in B’Tselem’s video project documented life in one encampment.